


Hush

by Toffle



Series: Safe Houses [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: HQ!! Zombie!AU, Haikyuu!! Zombie!AU, Implied Relationships, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Team Interactions, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 22:25:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6212560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toffle/pseuds/Toffle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fukurodani becomes home after the government issues measures that turn schools into refugee centres.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hush

Akaashi wasn't sure what had come over him when he stopped at the fence to stare at the corpse on the other side. It thrashed at the chain links, jaw working relentless and desperate to reach him. The fence rattled but Akaashi remained motionless, undisturbed, looking straight into its cloudy eyes.

He wasn't sure why he was doing this. Perhaps it was because not too long ago this creature had once been human, had been a person with a home and a family. Akaashi couldn't tell how long he had stood there for. He was ripped away from the sight and his back connected roughly against the wall.

“Akaashi enough! You need to stop.”

Akaashi lowered his head. Konoha's hands clutched his biceps in a vice like grip, and he'd dropped his head against his shoulder. Oh... He hadn't intended to scare anyone.

“I'm sorry, lets keep moving.”

Konoha released his grip, slow and careful. He was reluctant to move his head away where it rested against the junction of Akaashi's shoulder and collar. Akaashi pushed him back, taking care to not seem as if he was keeping him from comfort.

“Right. Let's keep moving.” Konoha echoed his words, turning away without a single glance back to the fence and the undead beyond it.

He looked worn thin, Akaashi thought, following after him to keep pace by his side. There was little life across Konoha's shoulders, tense and stiff. Akaashi felt it reflected in his own body; the rigidity of his spine, the weight across his back that pressed down, crushing and ominous.

“Shit.”

Konoha stopped. He bit at his lip and took a deep breath, a sharp intake that he held for seconds before releasing it violently back out.

“It shouldn't have gone this way. This should never have happened.”

“Konoha-san...”

“No. Don't. I know... I know.” He glared out across the school yard, to the walls that kept them inside and kept their predators out. Konoha whipped his head around, turning to face Akaashi. “Screw this. I _don't_ know, Akaashi. I don't know anything anymore. Is this really how it is from here on out? Is this really what all our lives have lead up to?!”

Akaashi didn't have an answer. There was nothing but the questions left hanging in the open air, a vocalisation of every thought running through his own mind, angry and torn.

“I don't have the answers... I'm sorry, Konoha-san.”

“Yeah?” Konoha shook his head, his hands shaking where he hid them in his pockets. The tremors coursed up his arms. “Well I'm sorry too.”

Akaashi winced, eyes creasing against the sensation building behind them, a pressure urging him to give in and accept their losses. He looked away, unable to face the struggle writing itself across Konoha's face in lines of stress and agony.

“We just stood there whilst she cried... We couldn't do anything.” Konoha stepped backwards, backing himself up against the outside of a classroom wall. He ran his hand through his hair, clutching the strands at the back of his head. “It was fast. I – I never thought...”

Akaashi joined him at the wall, sinking down to his knees in a crouch above the floor. “He was sick for three weeks, and his fever never broke. The signs were there.”

“Other people recovered!”

“And Komi-san didn't.”

Konoha's head hit the brickwork behind him with a weak thud, his fist hitting harder just inches above Akaashi's hair. “Could you stand to sound a little less cold.”

“I'm just as upset about this as you, don't think that I'm not.” Akaashi dropped back from his crouch to sit on the floor, gravel grating against his heels as his feet slid forward in front of him. “This, all of this, it's unpredictable. What happened in there was... I don't want to think about that for us. I don't want to deny what's happened either. I – We can't lose any one else.”

Fabric scrapped against the wall and Konoha joined him on the floor, resting his arms and head against his knees. “I can still hear her crying, Akaashi.”

“So can I.”

 

~*~

 

They were calling it the apocalypse without a single ounce of irony. Akaashi had thought it was overblown until report after report had flown in about the dead rising, biting, attacking, with evidence to prove each claim.

Tokyo had had little time to prepare. They had put up quarantine zones, hospitals had become sources of danger, and people had panicked, locking themselves away in their homes. Akaashi had seen stories on the news, reports of looters breaking into stores, taking food and water; expensive equipment and clothes that would never benefit these people from harm.

Fukurodani had been forced into lock down when the quarantine call had been announced. A teacher had arrived to their clubroom, talking hurried and hushed to their coach outside the gyms door. Their coach had returned inside, pale and unprepared to give the announcement he had to make to the team, ending their summer practice for good.

“They'll be using the school as a refugee centre. There's been a call for the country to be placed under quarantine.” He had explained. The tight line of his mouth broke the otherwise calm expression he delivered the news with. “We'll need this gym cleared out and tidied. Then get changed and contact your families.”

The gym had erupted into noise, and coach Takeyuki struggled to calm them and settle them down. They would have to remain in the school until further information was available. That information later arrived with parents, students, and locals being moved into the school with the help of armed guards.

Akaashi had watched from the window as a perimeter had been set up to allow safe entry into the school. He'd never seen a security team with guns before, outlawed as they were. Had things escalated that far? When had the decision for weaponry been legalised? Was the situation now too far out of control?

“Hey! It's going to be fine! They're bringing in doctors and supplies right?” Bokuto had called out with laughter in his voice, gathering their attention around him. “Let's just think of it like a huge sleep over. It's scary, but they've got it under control! Now we have jobs to do!”

Together they cleared out the gym. They helped teachers and students set up area's to sleep, and they left the quarantine team to create a medical unit within the school. The shift had happened in a matter of hours, until all students were required to relocate to their classrooms and remain there to make identification easier.

Akaashi didn't see his team for the rest of the day. Food was brought to their classrooms, along with means to sleep. The desks had been cleared away to the sides of the room to allow space for blankets and futons. Nobody truly slept that night. Akaashi didn't. He heard his class shift and turn and whisper into the darkness, afraid and uncertain.

The next few days brought medical exams. Everyone registered within the school compound was subjected to blood tests and examinations to determine their health. Anyone found to be carrying the sickness was led away, taken into the rooms claimed for internal quarantine procedures to be monitored and observed.

However, with the number of people contained within the school, the procedure took time and sickness still spread. Three days later Komi had shown signs of fever, tired and cold where the summers heat should have warmed him to the point of complaint. Konoha had received word from Sarukui and passed the message along amongst the team.

Akaashi had been visiting his mother in the school gymnasium at the time. Konoha had approached, sorry to have interrupted with the news. His mother had been sympathetic and squeezed their shoulders in support. The action did little to ease their worry.

“He's a strong kid, especially on a team like yours. He'll pull through.”

They refused to believe anything less.

With Komi sick, the third years class two was moved up the processing ladder. Every student screened under a scrutiny intense enough to instil fear. Sarukui never returned to his classroom, and Konoha hadn't had a chance to say goodbye.

Akaashi found him in the library, pacing around shelves for lack of anything better to do.

“Come with me.”

“Where?”

Akaashi turned away and lead him outside to the gym. “It's fine if we're outside.”

Konoha hurried to keep step, eyeing him over with a look of apprehension. Still, he followed where Akaashi lead, until Akaashi was unlocking the gymnasiums sports cupboard and slipping through the open door.

He lifted a volleyball up to Konoha's curious face that poked through the gap and watched his mouth split into a crooked grin.

“I didn't take you for a rule breaker.”

“We'll call it sports therapy.”

They relocked the door and Akaashi hid the keys on top of a locker in case they needed them again. He didn't feel like a thief, he hadn't had a chance to hand them back in the first place amongst the chaos.

Outside, they hit the ball against the wall, set, receive, rotating turns to burn off energy. Behind them, the chain-link fences were boarded up with corrugated iron and wooden boards, what ever was available to block those inside the school gates from being seen by the outside. They were far enough away that sounds of the ball wouldn't carry too far. The hollow thunk of each hit wore away their restlessness.

“He'll be okay. Sarukui-san doesn't get sick often.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Konoha dug the ball, sending it into the brickwork and stepped aside to let Akaashi receive.

“I believe that it's a good thing to have a strong immune system.”

The ball flew back up and Konoha bounced it off the pads of his fingers, a badly aimed over-head receive passing the ball too high up the wall.

“Isn't your immune system meant to get stronger because it knows how to fight illnesses it's had before?”

Akaashi caught the ball and spun it in his hands. “No one's had this before.”

They both settled and took a seat on the floor. The ball sat between as they wound down from the exercise and watched the clouds roll by. It almost seemed like a regular summers day, playing volleyball under the hot sun. The moment wasn't made to last.

“How's Komi-san?”

Konoha sighed and tilted his head right, then left, against his shoulders in a stretch. “Sick, but apparently he's using these dark times to get in good with the nurses. At least, that's what I've been told.”

“It sounds like he still has a good energy. Let's hope it keeps up.”

“Yeah. It's early days though. Sarukui hasn't even begun to show symptoms yet. He's been playing that cat game on his phone.” Konoha picked up the ball, spinning it up onto his fingers. “Maybe he's not actually sick. Maybe he's just a carrier?”

Akaashi hoped that he was right.

They returned ten minutes later, heading back to their respective classrooms for lunch and role call. Konoha kept the ball, a distraction from being trapped behind these walls. Akaashi reminded himself to visit Bokuto afterwards, he hadn't seen him in the past few days as the arrival of his large family had swept him off into a chaotic gathering. Bokuto had been busy since. They'd have time catch up later. Akaashi hoped they were in good condition.

 

\- - -

 

A few days passed into a few weeks, and tensions had risen dramatically. The school was large but word had still spread quickly of the students, teachers, and parents that had died from the new strain of flu.

That wasn't to say that all news was bad news. There had been recoveries, people who's fevers had broken and showed all the signs of pulling through and back into good health again. The process would be long, but the fact that people could recover was enough to raise hopes amongst the schools residence.

Despite the grief and the joy, Akaashi, like so many others, could not shake the feeling of unease that rested across his back like a tangible shadow. For all the news of deaths and recovery, where was the news of the undead? Of the handful of people who had passed away, why was there no news of those who returned altogether inhuman? Perhaps they were destroying their heads before they had a chance to find out.

The idea made Akaashi's stomach twist.

The doors to the gym opened and Akaashi watched as a member of staff approached a woman nearby. She was Komi's mother. They lead her off beyond the doors in a hurry. Akaashi and Konoha exchanged startled glances, suspicious and worried. They only called for family when someone showed little chance of recovery.

They stood up at once and followed after them, weaving around people seated across the floor to reach the door in time. Komi's mother was being taken down the hall that led to the make shift quarantine unit.

The end of the hall was blocked off with guards, and Akaashi and Konoha came to a halt before them, watching as Komi's mother turned the corner beyond plastic curtains and vanished out of sight into a classroom. A guard stepped forward holding out his arm to block them from advancing further.

“You two, step back. You are not authorised beyond this point.”

Akaashi gripped the back of Konoha's shirt, pinning him in place. Konoha glared up at the man.

“What's happening? Why have you taken Komi's mother?”

They knew why. Akaashi didn't wish to hear it, but Konoha wanted answers.

“He's not getting better is he? You wouldn't have called her inside if he wasn't recovering!”

The guards remained silent, eyeing them carefully in case one of them decided to try and break through.

“Can't you tell us anything?” Akaashi sounded calmer than he felt, his knuckles turning white, bunched in the fabric of Konoha's shirt. “That lady is our best friends mother. Can you give us any information?”

The guard released a short breath, checking down the hallway and confirming a gaze with his partner. “We're not at liberty to release any information at this current time.”

“You can't be serious.” Konoha's fists clenched at his sides. Akaashi could feel the vibrations coursing under his hand.

“Is it that you can't tell us, or that you don't know yourselves?” Akaashi had to wonder just how much information these men were given on a regular basis. Were they aware of the extent of what lay beyond the doors?

“We're going to have to ask you to return to your classrooms.”

“Hey, don't brush us off! They might not mean shit to you back there, but we have a right to know what's happening to our friends!”

“Konoh – ”

A shrill cry from beyond the hall cut Akaashi off. The sound was agonised, tapering off into wails and broken shouts. The guards jolted to attention and then quickly relaxed, their shoulders sinking under the weight of the realisation that had swept the hall.

Konoha paled beside him, frozen in place as they stared through the tarnished plastic barrier in horror. The wails dissolved into sobs, still audible from such distance away. Akaashi felt chilled to the core hearing the sounds of a mothers despair.

A hand gripped his arm and Akaashi tore his gaze away to look down. Konoha clutched him tight enough to bruise. Akaashi barely noticed the pain, still lost in the fading cries and pleas for 'Haruki-kun'.

 

~*~

 

The sun had began to set and a cool breeze crawled across them, rousing Akaashi from his daze, still sat against the wall. He placed a hand on Konoha's shoulder, stealing his attention from whatever place his thoughts had dragged him down into.

“We need to head back. They'll be taking registration for the evening.”

“They can wait.”

There was little bite to his words, hollow and tired. Akaashi couldn't blame him, exhaustion sat deep in him too. “Konoha-san, we need to go.”

With what looked like a weight of great effort, Konoha pushed himself up from the floor. Akaashi joined him, feeling every limb protest from stiffness, his backside numb from the cold concrete floor.

“I don't want to return to class...” Konoha spoke quietly as he looked the to door nearby. “I don't want to listen to the gossip, and I don't want to listen to them talk about all the things that could go wrong! They've _gone_ wrong, Akaashi. All of them.”

He wavered and turned his head away out of sight. Akaashi let the shake of Konoha's shoulder slip from his mind, finding it rude to stare. Tears pricked the corners of his own eyes as he took steps towards the door. “Let's head inside. I'll meet you on the third floor afterwards. I don't want to listen to it either, but I'd sooner we didn't get into trouble and get our movements restricted.”

“You think they'd do that?”

“I'm certain of it.”

\- - -

 

As the night wound down, they sat at the top of stairs, staring out the window of the landing just below them. The guards mostly patrolled the lower levels and the outside grounds. They had some peace in the darkness, save for the occasional person who passed by.

“Have you heard any more from Bokuto?”

Akaashi shook his head. “I lost contact a few days ago... Either his battery has died, or he's too sick to send a message.”

“I'm sorry.”

There wasn't much to be done now. Akaashi could only worry and take what he could get from the small updates from Bokuto's father. The loss of one of his children had taken its toll and now the fate of his eldest sat balanced in an unknown fate.

“And Sarukui-san?”

Konoha shook his head. “Still nothing.”

“Everyone responds to it differently. We can't think as if these things are written in stone.”

“Are you convincing me or yourself?”

Akaashi leant back, sitting up from resting against his knees. “Both, I believe.”

 

~ * ~

 

About a week had passed since Komi and Sarukui had been ushered away into quarantine. They had texted frequently and, from the confines of their ward, their team had received snap chats and ridiculous selfies with their bedside machinery.

Onaga leant across the table they had grouped around outside. “Have you seen this? He's got every single cat!”

“I didn't realise you were playing that too. Give me that.” Konoha reached out taking the phone from his hand. Sure enough on the screen sat a screenshot of the collection of cats Komi had acquired. “I swear Sarukui is going to force this app on everyone eventually.”

“What like a cat-pocalypse?”

Bokuto groaned at his side, arm splayed out across the table. “Ugh, you guuys! Let's not with the apocalypse talk.”

“It's not the best topic for discussion.”

“Thank you! Someone has some sense around here.”

Washio scratched at his head, glancing away. The table fell silent, awkward for all of a beat until Konoha's phone chimed quietly.

“I've had a cat named after me in every game... This is a personal attack.”

“They want you to feel included.” Akaashi covered a weak grin at Konoha's betrayed expression, and snickers swept across the table.

Next to him, Bokuto remained silent, head down against the table where he had been staring through the cracks for the past ten minutes. The company around him had surely improved his mood, but not by much, Akaashi observed. He pressed the side of his arm against Bokuto's shoulder.

When Bokuto's family had arrived at the school, they had been screened alongside everyone else. Fukurodani's students had been seen to first, school rosters easily at hand for the medical staff to organise and sift through. The families and locals had taken considerably more time as they had to gather and organise information on those present.

Bokuto's sister however, had been sick upon entry. There had been no screening process for her. The doctors had taken her from her family in tears, snatched from their arms, and the goodbyes allowed had been too few and too brief. Bokuto hadn't expected that his last moments with his sister would have been that morning at breakfast. He had told Akaashi as much after his family had settled inside the gym. He had spoke openly, crouched against the wall, lost to thoughts and fears.

Two nights ago they had received word that she had passed away. After a week of sparse information and updates, his father had been woken and called away in the dead of night. Akaashi's mother had watched over his children, safeguarding their sleep.

Akaashi lifted his hand, placing it flat across the broad expanse of Bokuto's back. He felt him jump at the touch, muscles seizing for all of a second before releasing. Bokuto relaxed as Akaashi smoothed small circles across his spine. There were no words of condolence that they could offer him. Instead, Akaashi had made sure that Bokuto was surrounded with support.

The updates from their sick friends had helped at first, but now the moment was wearing off.

Akaashi spun patterns higher up Bokuto's back and called for his attention. “Bokuto-san, would you like to see if the showers are free? It might help to feel refreshed.”

Bokuto shifted under his hand, turning his head to look up at Akaashi. “That's not gonna help much.”

“It may not,” Akaashi began, working his fingers across the curve of Bokuto's shoulder. “But it will put your family at ease to know you're taking care of yourself.”

Bokuto winced and Akaashi swallowed back the pang of guilt that struck through him.

“Yeah... I guess you're right. Thanks Akaashi.”

Akaashi dropped his hand away as Bokuto sat back from the table and excused himself. The team waved him off and ushered Akaashi to follow him. Well, he wasn't about to leave Bokuto on his own at a time like this.

He caught up with Bokuto easily. The spring in his step was long gone and Bokuto walked without hurry. Akaashi found it unsettling. He was used to Bokuto's low moods on the court, after failed exams, and bad days. This was different. This was grief.

Akaashi caught it in the dark circles around his eyes, the gold irises that had lost their lustre, and the wilt in Bokuto's strong posture. Bokuto had had little to no time to process his loss, yet Akaashi had watched him smile for his siblings, ever strong and reliable as they cried and asked him to explain the things that some were too young to understand.

“Oh, hey. The bathroom's free.” Bokuto stopped in the doorway of locker room. Akaashi hadn't noticed their arrival.

“I'll wait here whilst you shower.”

Bokuto groaned and turned on his heel to face Akaashi. “You don't need to babysit me, you know that right?”

“You're right, I don't.” Akaashi took his arm and pulled him over the benches between the lockers. “But I would like to keep you company, Bokuto-san. If you're comfortable with that?”

The bench creaked as Bokuto dropped his weight down on to it. He worried his lip between his teeth and reached up to take Akaashi's hand, pulling him to stand in front of him. “I'd like that, Akaashi. I just... I don't know what I'm feeling right now. I'm... I don't...”

He shook his head, hair fanning out across his forehead. The gel had long since been washed out during their stay inside the school. Akaashi waited as Bokuto poked at his hand, pulling and prodding gently in distraction as he sought to find words.

“She – I mean... I should go back to my family. They need me.”

“You need someone too.”

Bokuto's breath hitched and his voice cracked as he nodded. “I know.”

Akaashi closed the space between them, allowing Bokuto to have his moment where pretence was no longer needed. He combed his fingers through his hair and once again Akaashi rubbed small circles to soothe Bokuto's shaking shoulders.

“She was too young, Akaashi. Sh-She shouldn't have... I should have been with her.”

His fingers dug hard into Akaashi hips and Akaashi held back the whine of pain that tried to escape. Bokuto hadn't cried since the morning he had found out. Akaashi wasn't about to give him reason to stop now that he had a moment to grieve.

“You couldn't have known.”

“I should have! I shouldn't have let them take her.” A sob ripped through his throat, painful to Akaashi's ears. “She was scared, she would have been terrified... Why don't they let us go with them? They're just kids y'know... They need someone. Why are they alone?”

“I'm sorry Bokuto, I'm so sorry.”

Akaashi held him tight, rocking slightly on his feet the way his mother had done for him as a child when nightmares came. The nightmare now was reality, too big for either of them to handle alone. Bokuto was right. They were just children, but surely he understood that he was a child too?

 

\- - -

 

There was no respite to follow, no pause in time or break to recover. Bokuto's family had further distress invade their unit as their eldest fell sick himself.

Akaashi had noticed when Bokuto's skin, pale from stress and lost sleep, had gained little to no colour in the days that followed. He had noticed the drag in his step, and the delay in his responses. Bokuto had laughed his concerns off, assuring them all that he was fine. He'd sleep some more and worry less and sure as rain he'd be alright.

He wasn't.

They'd found him curled up by a toilet retching into the bowl. His brother had ran for the doctor as Akaashi held back Bokuto's hair from his sweat slick face. He reached over to flush the chain as Bokuto gasped and wheezed, trying to take in air from the exertion.

“Sorry 'Kaashi...”

“Don't be sorry, you're okay.” He had to be, he had to be fine. “Just take a slow breath in... and back out. Catch your breath.”

Bokuto gripped the porcelain rim and ducked his head to heave out air, harsh and painful, with a sob that echoed off the bowl. He had nothing left to give. Akaashi knelt at his side and rubbed his back, pressing his head against Bokuto's side.

“Shit... m'sorry.”

“You'll pull through. You always do.” Akaashi whispered assurances into his shirt, nudging his nose against the fabric. “Promise me.”

“Yeah. S'promise.”

They sat like that until the doctors arrived to take them both away. Akaashi received his first glimpse of the quarantine centre and his last glimpse of Bokuto as they led him away into a separate room.

Akaashi felt sick and it was no fault of the smell of vomit that clung fresh to his clothes.

Three days later they released Akaashi from quarantine, deemed free of infection and free to move about the compound. There was little reason to celebrate, but he smiled for his mother and he smiled for the siblings that Bokuto had left behind. They were only children after all.

 

~*~

 

Konoha backed away from the stairs, shuffling until his back hit the wall and he had something lean against. Akaashi yawned wide as he watched after him, not bothering to cover his mouth in the early morning hour.

“Do you think they're sleeping well?”

“I think they've had more sleep than us.” Akaashi shivered from the chill the twilight hours brought. They had lost track of the time that had passed sat out on the landing, moving little and mourning their loss.

“You're probably right.”

Konoha picked at his fingers, shoes marking the floor as he dragged his feet closer to shield himself off with. A small frown dented Akaashi's brows as he observed him, methodical in trying to smooth out the existing damage only to cause more.

He stood up from the top step and walked over. Had it not been long past two A.M, Akaashi would have felt embarrassed or rude for sitting down so close into Konoha's personal space. Yet Konoha spared him no word of protest or complaint. Akaashi wondered if that was worse.

“Leave your hands alone. If you get an infection from something like that, your family will worry.”

“Maybe the doctors will spirit me away first.”

“No, not for a simple wound.”

Konoha grumbled, moving his hands apart to shove them into his pockets. They watched the shadows of the trees dance across the wall in silence, allowing their thoughts to run wild in the dark. They both shivered, yet neither made a move to return to their beds or proposed to gather a blanket.

They let the minutes tick by as they lost their thoughts to a room two floors below, out of sight and out of reach. Were they concious? Akaashi wondered. Were they keeping food down and getting rest? Were they alive?

“Do you think they know?”

Akaashi snapped his head to the side, eyes widening at the question.

Konoha looked up to the ceiling. “Do you think they know about Komi?”

Akaashi tugged at the sleeves of his jersey, momentarily grateful for having had their volleyball kit with them. He turned the question over in his mind. Did they share a room downstairs? Had they been awake when Komi had died? Had they seen it? When all other responses failed to come him, Akaashi answered honestly.

“I hope they don't know.” He didn't want to imagine witnessing the death of a close friend in the next bed over. “I truly hope they don't.”

“...Yeah. I hope so too.”

 

~*~

 

Modern technology was more than a blessing in just the medical field. Technology allowed them to text and call each other from rooms away, and the frequent contact with their out of reach friends had them counting their good fortunes each day.

A month ago that wouldn't have seemed like much of a privilege, but with access banned to visiting their sick friends, it was all they had and they were grateful for it.

Konoha's phone was a constant buzz of screenshot kittens and fish exchange rates. Akaashi watched him flick the screen open for the tenth time in five minutes. Sarukui had decided that best way to pass the time, bed ridden and cut off from society, was to download apps whilst the electricity and internet still functioned.

They had all wondered at one point or another just how long these things would last for. Too many films had had them ready for a nation wide blackout, it was only a matter of when.

They used these moments to their fullest whilst communication was still available. Konoha put the phone on speaker when Sarukui called, and the team would cheer to hear his voice just as they did when Komi called. There was joy in hearing them talkative and bored. There was relief in the knowledge that they were alive.

Yet, as days passed, the calls became infrequent. They were reduced to texts and IM's as voices and energy were lost with their waning health.

Akaashi noticed as Konoha closed off, checking his phone more frequently with a worried scowl etched into his forehead. He couldn't miss the impatient tapping against the screen and the way Konoha had began to bite at his nails, antsy and restless.

Konoha hadn't wanted to talk about it, so Akaashi gave him time. They all knew better than to press him for answers, they'd only be shut out more.

With their own phones devoid of contact, it wasn't hard to place the the cause. The silence of their mobiles had rendered them lost without the steady supply of contact that assured them of their friends safety.

Akaashi had dug out the volleyball from Konoha's class room one day and cornered him into a game of catch behind the building. Passes turned to hits and Konoha slammed the ball into the wall hard enough to send it flying out over the fence completely.

He hadn't meant to do that. Akaashi could see it clear as day across his face as Konoha's expression crumpled from shock to guilt. A strained creased pulled across his lips and brow as Konoha tried not to cry.

His resolve was too weak. Exhausted from hours fretting over a blank screen, the tears fell.

“I haven't spoken to him in days,” he started, agitated as he stared out to the space the ball had vanished over. “ _Day's_ Akaashi. I don't know how he is. We haven't heard from Komi either. What if... No, no I don't want what if's, I want to know what happened!”

“It's possible they've slipped into the next stage of the sickness.”

“That's not something I want to think about...” Konoha pulled his sleeve and wiped it across his face. “I can't get in contact with his parents either. If something happens...If it happens, who's going to be there with him?”

“ _If_ it happens, we'll work something out.” Akaashi approached the fence, careful to remain silent as Konoha watched him with something akin to disbelief. There was a gap at the edges of the boards that kept them from sight, and Akaashi blinked out through the hole. The volleyball was meters away by a car and the street was unsettlingly clear.

“What are you doing?”

He stepped backwards and returned to Konoha's side. “If they've kept the streets here as empty as that one, they might have a wider perimeter around the school. They may eventually relocate more people here... It's possible Sarukui-san's family could be amongst them.”

Konoha eyed the gap with apprehension, flicking his gaze back to Akaashi with uncertainty. “You think they've planned that far ahead?”

“I think there's a lot we're unaware of.” Akaashi shrugged his shoulders and motioned towards the open playground. “They'll need to bring in more supplies eventually, and there's a high chance there were more refugees who couldn't make it home. Let's not give up on our situation.”

Konoha considered him for a moment and then broke into a short laugh, hiding a few quiet snickers behind his hand. “I really hope you're aware of how cliché you sound. You should go into the film business with motivational lines like that.”

“I didn't realise I was that inspiring, Konoha-san.”

“Don't milk the moment.” Konoha cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes, removing the stray tears that still clung to his lashes. “Let's go back. I want to see if they'll give my mum any news. They might listen to an adult, instead of shutting us out the loop.”

“Alright, that sounds like a good place to start.”

Akaashi trailed behind him as Konoha led the way back into the main grounds of the school. He sincerely hoped that his words had not been a lie; the future was unpredictable and baseless logic would only get Akaashi so far. The school still had room to spare across the sports field. Surely they wouldn't let that space go to waste.

Konoha stopped walking and Akaashi narrowly avoided a collision with his back. He hesitated in front of the door and then turned around to face Akaashi.

“Hey, I just want to say thank you.” Konoha tilted his head and eyed Akaashi with a frown. “Everything right now is pretty shit and I really don't know how you've managed to keep your head. I don't know if you're actually handling this well or not, but... Talk to us, if you need to.”

Akaashi's eyes softened and he bowed his head slightly. “Thank you, Konoha-san.”

Fear had gripped them all. There was no denying that their biggest support was built from their team and the connections they had made with their families. Akaashi was grateful for Konoha's concern. They were all at risk of losing someone these days.

 

~*~

 

“You know, I thought we'd be heading on to the next match. I never actually thought that something like this would happen.”

Akaashi opened his eyes, tilting his head towards Konoha. His eyes burned and his vision turned swam from the lack of sleep. “We should have been waking up around now to get to practice on time.”

Konoha huffed, hand patting at the phone tucked away in his jerseys pocket. “No need for alarms now.”

“Not that we were sleeping.”

Akaashi closed his eyes again, listening to the quiet rustle of Konoha fidgeting against his side.

“I'm so tired...”

Akaashi hummed softly in agreement. Konoha continued on, talking just above a whisper.

“I keep thinking, maybe I'll wake up and today won't have happened.” He stretched his legs out, fabric rustling across the tiles and bumping Akaashi knee. “It's stupid. I know that wont happen. Tomorrow we'll say good morning to our families, and... and well...”

“Komi-san's mother will be mourning her son.”

“It doesn't feel right.”

Akaashi blinked slowly, working away the sting to stare at his trousers. “I feel as though it's better like this...”

Konoha sat up away from the wall to face him. “Akaashi, what are you saying?”

“Please, don't misunderstand me.” Akaashi looked up, catching the hurt behind Konoha's eyes. “I'm saying that... it's something like relief. I'm tired of waiting on the unknown. It's exhausting getting two words here, and one word there, never actually knowing what's happening behind those curtains.”

Akaashi laced his fingers together, resting them on his lap as he ran his thumb across each digit, absently counting the callouses. Konoha remained silent, watching him work.

“I'd just rather know something, than nothing.”

“I – I get it...” Konoha ducked his head, sniffing and clearing away the catch in his voice. “There's only so long you can be strung along before it's... before it's too much.”

They fell back into silence and Akaashi recounted the days since he had last seen Bokuto. The weeks had passed by so slowly. For Konoha it was surely worse where Sarukui had fallen ill so close to Komi. There wouldn't be long until news came their way. Akaashi prayed for a swift recovery. There was still time to wait where Bokuto was concerned.

A nudge to his side broke Akaashi from his thoughts. The hall had brightened considerably and the moon no longer cast blue light across the stairs. They had seen the night through to dawn.

Konoha stood up and held out his hand. “We should get back to our rooms. They'll start taking register soon.”

“You're right.” Akaashi took his hand, allowing himself to be pulled up from the floor.

Akaashi's back was sore. He stretched out feeling joints pop and crack, loud in the silence. Konoha shot a disgusted look his way and Akaashi raised his eyebrow at the response. His muscles ached and his stomach was empty. The toll had left him feeling weak and shaky. He hoped that he could walk it off.

With unsteady legs, Akaashi approached the stairs, taking hold of the banister to help himself down. Akaashi doubted that either of them would manage a short sleep before the guards made their rounds. Exhausted as he was, the dull ache persisting in his chest kept him from rest, hollow but heavy.

Today they would mourn with their families, and they would offer their condolences to the deceased. They would wait, and wait, and wait for news of their loved ones, and they would smile as though they were strong enough not to feel the strain. Their friends would understand.

Akaashi turned, bowing his head in half a farewell towards his friend slumped heavy against the wall.

“Goodnight, Konoha-san.”

“Goodnight, Akaashi.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Again this Zombie AU was only ever meant to be a one-shot, but now it's a trilogy of heart ache, this time focusing on Fukurodani!
> 
> I tried something a little different with this one, as the chronology isn't linear in this. The 'flash backs' go backwards, and the 'current' scenes go in order. I hope it makes sense, but if it doesn't then please let me know.
> 
> Shout out to [Jackidy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackidy/pseuds/Jackidy) who I turned to for every single kono/saru interaction because they literally created the AO3 tag for it.


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